mystery bike,..what is this? Found it! : FUCHS!

[masha]

Re:

Certainly NOT a cheap Taiwanese alloy frame! - The Heinz Fuchs is the Doug Bradbury of Europe - its Germany's version of the Manitou HT - being built around the same time too. Sadly Her Fuchs died in 2012, but Heinz made a handful of each: MTB / BMX / Hybrid when he retired from Porsche. Its an exclusive machine that was typically supplied in XT 735 / XTR M900 / XC Pro in MTB form, not sure about the BMXs. I only ever saw the MTB supplied with either Fuchs own very high quality (albeit a bit heavy) steel unicrown finished in a thick chrome plated finish, or Manitou mk.1. I've got a set of Manitou 1's for mine, and I also run it with an Orange alu fork that suit the frame better than the steel unicrown IMO as its a 1" threaded setup on the Fuchs. It is very unlikely you will see any of these bikes in the UK, and the Germans are probably more keen on them than us, but I can vouch for the build quality and durability and its a nice ride, very similar to an early Klein Attitude or Manitou hard tail. due to the oversize box section rear end which is very nicely put together (even though some welds do look a little crude compared to the American bikes of the time, but then the Fuch is a hand built bike that can proudly wear a "Made in Germany" badge). I bought mine from someone who imported it from Germany, to setup as a light strong commuter bike but didn't finish restoring it. My intension was to fit a spare early PaceRC30 fork and make a replica early Manitou, but when I realised the quality and the fact these bikes are quite special in their own right decided to restore it to its former glory as an original Heinz Fuchs early '90s MTB. I'm treating it to a nice set of Magic Motorcycle CNC cantis to make it stand out from the crowd a bit more too. Photos when fully restored to follow.

 

[al]

Re:

Interesting frame, although that welding is diabolical.



al.

 

[masha]

Re:

Yes finish is not as polished as a mass production machine - but it reminds me of the early Manitou's and Cunninghams - a lot of those weren't much to look at close up, but as you say interesting machines & history - more from the evolution of the engineering and the small scale race car specialist who tried his hand at something else.

 

[Defiant]

cool that extra info

 

[legrandefromage]

Re: Re:

Interesting frame, although that welding is diabolical.



al.

In what way?

That looks like a good mechanical joining of two bits of metal.

A pulse mig can make it look nice and pretty for you poor dear but welding without one usually looks like that.

 

[al]

Re: Re:

Interesting frame, although that welding is diabolical.



al.

In what way?

That looks like a good mechanical joining of two bits of metal.

A pulse mig can make it look nice and pretty for you poor dear but welding without one usually looks like that.

If holding two bits of aluminium together is your only criteria, yes they do the job.


al.

 

[legrandefromage]

well what else do you expect two bits of aluminium to do? As long as the weld penetration is good, nothing should else matter.

 

[al]

well what else do you expect two bits of aluminium to do? As long as the weld penetration is good, nothing should else matter.

Yeah okay.



al.

 

[legrandefromage]

well what else do you expect two bits of aluminium to do? As long as the weld penetration is good, nothing should else matter.

Yeah okay.



al.

No, come on, do tell us why?

 

[al]

well what else do you expect two bits of aluminium to do? As long as the weld penetration is good, nothing should else matter.

Yeah okay.



al.

No, come on, do tell us why?

In the same way that cementing a pile of bricks into a wall, that doesn't fall over, is all you can expect from that building material... smart arse.

Do come on, I'm sure you have something else to impress the class with?


al.